Sine Dolore Acte
by BluesGirl
Summary: Severus Snape finds a secluded spot up in a tower to think. As he thinks about what he's about to do, he has a confused and concerned visitor. Set during HBP oneshot


_**A/N: Just a little oneshot, i thought it up quickly last night before bed, so I thought I'd post it. I was thinking about expanding it, making it an actual story, where things would develop. Reviews welcome! Let me know if i should continue! enjoy :)**_

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The night rumbled with distant thunder, a warning carried over miles on the dead air around the castle. Shadows reached through the paned windows with greedy fingers, inking everything they touched. The distant moon cast its glow, making the shadows in the empty room seem even more defined and sharp. Through the gloom, a shadow stood facing the window, the blackness of his cape matching the surrounding night.

Severus Snape gazed out across Hogwarts's courtyard with eyes the color of obsidian. He watched the old spinster McGonagall herd students inside like the ever-watchful shepherd and her flock. Snape's eyes pressed closed and a crease formed between his dark brows. The professor's jaw was clenched. The overwhelming gravity of what he was about to do caused the muscles to tighten against bone. Another bout of thunder rolled lazily over the castle and Snape snapped his eyes open. Turning them towards the heavens, he watched as dark clouds rolled their way in front of the pale moon, suffocating the light that shone from it. Shadows danced across Snape's face and he cast his eyes downwards again.

A voice reached him.

"Professor?"

He was unsurprised. "Return to your tower, Miss Granger," Snape ordered, his rich voice stern and quiet in the gloom. The silence flourished around them and the Potions Master moved his head to the side, almost as if to look over his shoulder.

"It looks like a storm is brewing," Hermione Granger said, standing in the doorway. She had ignored Professor Snape's words.

"Go to bed, Granger," this time, pangs of annoyance laced his words and he turned to face her, a sneer smeared across his pale lips.

Hermione Granger held her ground, her chestnut hair pinned away from her face and her chocolate eyes regarding the professor intently. "What are you doing up here?"

The familiarity in her voice didn't settle well in Snape's ears. "That is none of your concern."

Snape watched as she bit the inside of her cheek and her delicate eyebrows furrowed. He momentarily noted that her bushy hair had calmed into loose curls over the years, but another roll of thunder snapped the flitting observation from his mind. Snape turned back to the window and realized that the time was nearing. He would have to go soon.

A twitch in the back of his mind, the slightest little feeling, the whisper of an intruder.

Snape whirled around and strode over to Hermione, his eyes angry and his jaw set. The professor's dark lank hair framed his face and his mouth had acquired a sneer once more. "Stay out of my head, Granger."

"You taught me Occlumency, sir," she said, holding her ground, but her eyes betrayed her courage when they flitted to the ground, unable to meet Snape's dark gaze. He towered over her, a full head taller. Up close, she noted the dusky smell of dried herbs and the sharpness of pine. He had been in the Forbidden Forest.

"That does not mean you should feel like an entitled little brat and parade where you are not welcome," Snape growled. He noted how his words made her cringe.

Pushing her obvious fear of the man aside, Hermione forced herself to straighten and meet his obsidian eyes, dark and glinting. "That necklace, the one that Katie had, that was an assassination attempt, wasn't it?"

Snape blinked and backed off, wishing to near the window again. The silence around them roared in her ears and she wished he would answer. Finally, his voice was quiet and smooth. "Yes, Miss Granger."

She knew he wouldn't lie to her.

"And now, this storm, something's going to happen, isn't it?"

Snape swallowed, wishing there was a way to get her out of here without saying anything. "Yes," he finally admitted. Snape watched her, knowing full well that she needed to be back in her tower, away from the world that was about to crack around them. Hermione didn't deserve to be here, not now. She didn't deserve to know what was about to happen, what he was about to do.

The wand in his sleeve felt hot and heavy, a burning chunk of iron weighing him down. Snape swallowed and backed towards the window. Hermione took it upon herself to step fully into the room, the shadows dancing around her face and making her hair look shades darker.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Snape released a ragged sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Miss Granger…I will not tell you again…go back to your room."

"I'm not a child anymore, Professor."

Snape looked up at her, a brow raised. "Oh, is that true? How old are you?"

Her eyes narrowed in defiance, "Age has nothing to do with it. I've been your apprentice for almost a year now. You've put me through the hardest training you could possibly conjure up, and I've succeeded. My Occlumency is better than most professionals, you said it yourself."

Snape clenched his fists.

"You are still naive, Granger. You don't know anything about _that," _Snape hissed, pointing out the window, the clouds churning into each other beyond the paned glass. "About what's out there. You and Weasly and _Potter_ only caravan around, sticking your noses where they don't belong."

Hermione's eyes shone in anger and, for a moment, Snape saw Lily Evans. As time had gone on, Snape was amazed that Potter was Lily's son. Hermione was so much like her, it had unnerved him. Save for the green eyes and red hair, the two could've been equals.

Snape pushed the thought aside as he approached her once more, towering and pale-skinned in the gloom. Hermione felt the hotness of anger well up in her chest when she saw that he was sneering again. Always sneering, always looking down on her. All she wanted to do was prove herself a brave individual, more than just the bookworm, the know-it-all. Prove to him that she was worth the time and effort of training. Snape had taught her Occlumency, defensive spells Harry could only dream of accomplishing, forced her to brew potions far more advanced than she should be learning.

And yet here he stood, dark and condescending, secretive and quiet, lecturing her to return to her room.

"Very well," she finally said, glaring at him, her brown eyes smoldering. "You don't trust me. Why?"

"You seem to be under the falsehood that we are associated with each other, Miss Granger," Snape hissed, his silky voice menacing.

"I think you're a fool if you assume we're not associated with each other, Professor," Hermione blurted before she could stop herself. She saw the anger flash in his black eyes and the sneer was wiped from his face, replaced by a snarl. Before he could speak, she continued. "We've looked into each other's minds, seen things between us. Trained, brewed, studied. There were nights where I'd spent hours in that potion's room."

"I was teaching you."

"That may be, but this has been more than just teaching. You've made sure I know how to protect myself. I'm not stupid. Tell me what's going to happen tonight. Maybe I can help."

_Eager child…as headstrong as her golden friends. _"You can't help me."

She frowned. "I want to try and help you."

Snape looked over his shoulder as another distant grumble of thunder rolled overhead. Her words unsettled him. He was unused to kindness.

Drawing himself in his robes and standing tall, Snape gave one last look to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, _please_ go back to your dormitory. Also, your lessons with me are over."

The look in the older Professor's eyes made Hermione finally nod. "Fine," she murmured quietly, turning back towards the door. When she stood in the threshold, she paused to speak. "Whatever happens tonight, Professor Snape, please be careful."

When she was gone, the silence swirled around him and he bowed his head, his eyes pressed closed and the emptiness of the room closed in, reminding the man that he was alone in this. For a fleeting moment, he was upset that she had left. The brief meeting, even though it was more of an argument, reminded him that there were people in this world who were wholeheartedly good, albeit headstrong and a little naive.

He reached into his sleeve and pulled out his wand, dark and sleek in his pale, slender fingers. It felt heavy in his grasp and had the strong urge to drop it like it was an undesirable serpent.

Snape looked out across the courtyard. On the other side of the castle, the tower of the observatory loomed overhead. The clouds drifted lazily away and the pale light of the shining moon cast the stones of Hogwarts in a milky glow. Clenching his wand in his hand, Snape closed his eyes once more, heaved a long sigh, and turned, his robes flurrying behind him. His strides were long and he left the room without a backwards glance.


End file.
